Judges 19:22-30
Right In Their Own Eyes
Be advised. The Biblical account that we are about to read is very
graphic. You might want to plug your ears as I read it.
Read:
Jud 17:6 In those days there was no king in
Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes.
Read the text.
Then:
Jud 21:25 In those days there was no king in
Israel: every man did that which was right in
his own eyes.
If you have never read through the Bible, you might be surprised to
find an account like this in it. I have pastored 36, maybe 37 years
and preached for 42 years. This is the first time I have used this as
a text.
Last Sunday night (10/1/2017) around 10 PM, Stephen Paddock, opened
fire on a crowd of around 22,000 from a 32nd floor hotel window.
His rampage lasted for maybe 15 minutes. At that time I researched
this information, 58 had died and more than 500 were wounded. In the
end, Mr. Paddock killed himself.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooting-what-we-
know/index.html
There are lots of questions surrounding this incident. Mr. Paddock
was not a foreigner but was born in the United States. It appears
that he had no religious or political affiliation. His brother, Eric
Paddock, said he had never even drawn a gun before. So far, he in no
way fits the profile of a terrorist or a deranged person.
http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article176514361.html
The word that seems to be used by most who knew him was
"dumbfounded." It does not appear he ever spoke of doing this type of
deed to anyone or let on that he was angry at anyone or anything. Mr.
Paddock was a fairly wealthy man and had been in an intimate
relationship with a woman for some time. Everything suggests that he
was sound of mind and in control of his facilities.
The investigation continues.
But many are left wondering, "What is going on?" We are seeing
things take place for which there is no precedent. In an effort to
curb the carnage, some are wanting to tighten laws.
1. Restrict gun ownership
2. Increase surveillance
3. Compromise some of our freedoms
While most of us may be against these measures, we need to understand
that it is logical for scared people to want to do something. You
also might as well also face the fact that all of those things will
happen sooner rather than later. It does not matter that the logic of
doing them is flawed or that the places where they have been done are
no better. People are searching for a way to explain what is going on
and the only thing they can think of is, "If there weren’t so many
freedoms, there would not be so much carnage."
However, I believe the Bible reveals both what is happening and why
it is happening. Let me share some thoughts with you.
I. These kinds of tragedies are happening because of three Biblical
realities which are now coupled together in our country and in
our time.
A. Man has a dead spirit.
1. This is nothing new, but it is the primary reason all
men do evil.
2. It is because we are separated from God.
Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die.
a. It is interesting that in the Hebrew, the word for
surely and dead are both the same word.
b. It is the word the Hebrew word for suddenly, surely
die, but it is repeated.
c. That is the Hebrew way of emphasizing just how dead
Adam and Eve would be if they ate of the forbidden
fruit.
d. It is God saying, "You will die dead."
3. Even though God used the double emphasize for what would
happen to them, they did not physically cease to breath
and to live, but their spiritual connection with God did.
4. Ever since that day, man has been born spiritually dead.
a. On his own, every human is incapable of hearing God.
b. He is incapable of sensing God.
c. He is incapable of feeling God.
d. He is incapable of knowing God.
e. He is incapable of understanding God.
5. If it were not for two things, every human being would be
on the lowest levels of morality and worship.
a. The work of the Holy Ghost.
(1) The Holy Ghost is here and He is helping us to
hear God, to sense God, to feel God, to know
God, and to understand God.
(2) The Holy Ghost works in the lives of both saved
and unsaved people.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we
received, and grace for grace.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment:
b. The training of those who have been worked on by the
Holy Ghost.
Mt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the
salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be
salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but
to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of
men.
(1) This is why parenting and witnessing are so
important.
(2) We who have been touched by the Holy Ghost can
make a difference in the lives of even lost
people.
6. Sadly, it seems that the Holy Ghost is stepping away from
His work as Convictor. Perhaps that is because we are
quenching Him, but without His force in this world, man-
kind will sink to the lowest rungs on the morality
ladder.
B. There is no fear of God.
1. When there is no fear of God, man does that which is right
in his own eyes.
a. This is a reality that is changing in our country.
b. People in the United States are—or have—rapidly lost
the fear of God.
c. Losing the fear of God has greatly influenced our
country in the area of violence.
2. You do not have to take my word for that. The Bible bears
it out.
a. Genesis 6 should be remembered and studied with two
truths in mind:
(1) It is before the God’s law was given, meaning
people were doing what was right in their own
eyes.
(2) It was a wicked, violent, corrupt world.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually.
Ge 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold,
it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his
way upon the earth.
b. Abraham told his wife Sarah to call say they were
brothers and sisters. When he was called out for
doing so, he told them why.
Ge 20:11 And Abraham said, Because I thought,
Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and
they will slay me for my wife’s sake.
(1) He thought someone might kill him because they
wanted his wife.
(2) Why would anyone do that? Because there was no
fear of God there.
c. Paul described how wicked people live.
Romans 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre…
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
3. When there is no fear of God, people will do as they
please.
a. There does not have to be a reason or a motive for
evil behavior. It can just pleases them at the time.
b. They may have some demented rational in the back
of their mind. They may not.
c. Expecting people with no fear of God to act in a
rational manner is in itself irrational.
4. When our society gets scared enough, two things will
happen.
a. More and more laws will be passed to restrict more and
more of our freedoms.
(1) Of course most people who do not fear God are not
going to obey man’s laws either.
(2) And no number of man-made laws will replace the
fear of God.
b. Sooner or later, a dictator will rise to the surface
and people will let him.
(1) Even a bad dictator is better than no law at all.
(2) Anarchy is even more cruel than a dictator.
5. However, there has alway been spiritually dead people and
some people who did not fear God.
a. Why are things getting worse now?
b. Because of a third Biblical reality.
C. Demons are rising in power and acceptance.
1Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron;
1. As people turn from God, they are turning toward demons.
a. Most of them do not realize it, especially in our
country, because they do not believe in demons any
more than they believe in God; but their effect is
obvious.
b. However, they do not have to believe in demons to be
influenced, even controlled by them.
c. The Bible describes the work of the demons as
"seducing" spirits, meaning the demons deceive and
mislead those they are influencing.
2. What is the proof that demons are influencing the madness
of our world?
a. Not that you can see or document them, but that you
can see and document their influence.
b. Every type of evil the Bible condemns is being
welcomed into our world.
c. Mayhem, murder, murder in masses, and misery now hang
over the world like a cloud.
d. This is what a godless world looks like and the more
godless it becomes, the darker the image will be.
e. When President George W. Bush (the 43rd and last Bush
president left office), some posted pictures of him
leaving the White House, waving, with the caption,
"Miss me yet?" So God should be pictured waving
goodbye to America and the world with such a caption
below it.
3. Demons revving up the volume of the evil in men’s hearts.
a. Whereas a godless individual might lose his temper and
kill once, a demon controlled person may kill again
and again until caught or might rent a 32nd floor
hotel room and see how many he can kill at one time.
b. We have seen these kinds of things happening since the
term "postal" was first coined in the late 1900’s.
II. These three realities will continue to cause more evil to be done.
A. As these three realities…
1. the dead spirit of man
2. the lack of a fear of God
3. the rise of demonic influences
continue to combine, we can expect to see more of these kinds
of displays.
B. More and more, people will do what they consider to be right
in their own eyes.
1. While to some that might mean just throwing off the reigns
which hinder "pleasurable immorality" (i,e, free sex,
profanity, no worship, drunkenness) for more and more, it
will mean freedom to commit violence, thief, rape, and
pillage.
2. In our text, not only was wrong done to the man and woman
by those who did what they deemed to be good in their own
eyes, but the man—having no legal and just recourse—did
what he deemed right in his own eyes.
a. And so it spreads.
b. An wrong or an injustice done against you now gives
you the right to do what you deem right in your own
eyes.
3. In Joshua, have you ever wondered why God had the people
who previously occupied Israel’s land completely
exterminated?
a. Many condemn God as a cruel, unloving, evil God
because He commanded first Moses and then Joshua to
kill men, women, and children. Why?
b. Because of their evil influence on Israel.
(1) Not only would they influence Israel to worship
false gods, but they also influenced Israel to
godless, violent, living.
(2) Once people begin to do that which is right in
their own eyes, it is very difficult—perhaps
impossible—to turn them back to a controllable
society.
(3) It is much easier to stir up a spiritual dead,
fearless of God, demonically-controlled people
than it is reign them in
III. What is the cure for such a condition?
A. There is only one course. Depending on where you are, there
are several actions, but they all follow one course.
1. If you are lost, be saved.
2. If you are saved, get right.
3. Everyone needs to repent and humble themselves before
God.
B. If moving away from God is causing the rise of wickedness—and
it is—then turning to God is the only thing that will stem
it.
This is called REVIVAL and our church, our community, our nation is
in desperate need of it. I cannot preach to the world, but I am
preaching to us. If we cannot have revival here, we will not have
it out there.
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